Double Bass Problem with a Luthier (Roland/Emanuel Wilfer content)

#224
B String said:
I recently saw Roland Wilfer at NAMM. He has made me an instrument in the past. I also have one at the moment. We have a long standing relationship. When we spoke at NAMM, he let me know he was way behind getting basses out. Mainly because he's the ONLY person in his shop. He makes the basses, takes orders, etc. In short, he's a one man show at the moment because he wants absolute quality control. He knows he's taking a lot of time, but he'd rather get it right and has little time for anything other than making the instruments. I offer no excuses, no horse in this race. I'm only repeating what I was told.
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#226
dhergert said:
Yup.

@Tyronimo and anyone else in this situation, I'd highly recommend taking @robobass 's very kind offer (this post in this current thread) and contacting him about retaining his attorney-wife regarding your issues, asap.

The longer time passes, the less likely it is to have a fair resolution.

And, visiting in person as a community outsider, even under normal social situations, is unnecessarily risky. The only way to correct this situation is through the legal process.

I suspect I'm not alone in saying I'd really like to see this situation resolved once and for all.
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#230
Calvin Marks said:
I am sorry to hear. I must say, it is a very unusual for this to occur in such a small community. Surely the luthier must know that his reputation will suffer greatly. I can’t understand why he would pocket someone’s money and not deliver a bass for three years and risk all the negative publicity. He must have connections to a variety of people that could have gotten you even a used instrument to play on until yours was complete. The entire situation doesn’t make sense unless he was truly trying to con someone, but even then, it doesn’t make sense given the risk to reward ratio.
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#234
Hi, i am new here and i am from Germany. Unfortunately, the same thing happens to us. We were in his workhop in Erlangen in July and were convinced, that he really is an expert in his work. We never expected to ever get this horrible experience. Since our son is growing up und needs a bigger Bass, we decided to let him built a Bass, which Wilfer wanted to finish in October. We were very naive, that we didnt make a check about his person in the Internet. After messaging him a few times asking for a picture (he said so, that he would send pictures of the process regularly), he still replied : soon.., but never did. After reading some negativ comments about him in the net, we tried to message him, hoping he could give us a reassuring, that all were good. Unfortunately, since then, we got no more contact from him. So sad, and it seems we are all helpless, because he still can do this business after all these years
 
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#235
Ingbass said:
Hi, i am new here and i am from Germany. Unfortunately, the same thing happens to us. We were in his workhop in Erlangen in July and were convinced, that he really is an expert in his work. We never expected to ever get this horrible experience. Since our son is growing up und needs a bigger Bass, we decided to let him built a Bass, which Wilfer wanted to finish in October. We were very naive, that we didnt make a check about his person in the Internet. After messaging him a few times asking for a picture (he said so, that he would send pictures of the process regularly), he still replied : soon.., but never did. After reading some negativ comments about him in the net, we tried to message him, hoping he could give us a reassuring, that all were good. Unfortunately, since then, we got no more contact from him. So sad, and it seems we are all helpless, because he still can do this business after all these years
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I'm very sorry that this happened to you. Of course, this is not the typical experience when buying a double bass because most people in the industry are honest business-people. Although I will say that more than half of them have their own quirks that might make them someone I wouldn't do business with again but that's a sample size of one, so... take it for what it's worth. Since you're in Germany, I expect that the legal system will work in your favor and you will receive your deposit back but please let us know if that's the case or not. Best wishes for you and your son's exploration of the double bass. It's a wonderful instrument in talented hands!
 
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#236
Tom Lane said:
I'm very sorry that this happened to you. Of course, this is not the normal experience when buying a double bass because most people in the industry are honest business-people. Since you're in Germany, I expect that the legal system will work in your favor and you will receive your deposit back but please let us know if that's the case or not. Best wishes for you and your son's exploration of the double bass. It's a wonderful instrument in talented hands!
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Thank you for your comment. Unfortunately, we made a mistake paying him the full price instead of a down payment. This means we can financially not afford any lawyer at the moment. Yes, everyone has been telling us about how careless we were.
 
#237
Hi again,
i would like to update you about our purchase. Roland Wilfer had in fact sent us two pictures of the Doublebass (on 25th Sep, 'funny' that he sent us the pictures 2 days after i posted my thread here). After these pictures, we never got any more informations about the bass (well he did answer a call once, but since then never again). We are going to Erlangen next week to his workshop and we tried to call him (to inform him that we are visiting, wrote him a Whatsapp message etc. NO answer, no reactions. Very unhappy about this.. There are so many events for my son coming next and he needs desperately a 3/4 bass. .
 
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